# Japan Forum > Japanese Language & Linguistics >  Kana's Origins

## AlienEarthling

Actually, both Katakana and Hiragana are derived from Kanji (the "ji" (characters) of the Han (phonetically changed to "Han") Dynasty - just as "Romaji" refers to the "ji" of Roma, the Roman alphabet).
A good reference here would be Roy Millers; The Japanese Language, and also his Reader.

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## Rainbow Warrior

Thank you, do you have any references to ancient alphabets?

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